A Charmed Summers 2: Charmed Again
by Brenna's Urbangirl Projects
Summary: What If Paige had not been adopted by the Matthews family. What if she had been adopted by the Summers family. And what if she had acquired her powers before season 4 of Charmed. This is the second story in my Charmed Summers series. This follows Paige as she finally finds her birth family.
1. Chapter 1: Charmed Again

**Summary** :What If Paige had not been adopted by the Matthews family. What if she had been adopted by the Summers family. And what if she had acquired her powers before season 4 of Charmed. This is the second story in my Charmed Summers series. This follows Paige as she finally finds her birth family.

 **Pairings:** Paige/Xander Buffy/Faith Dawn/Willow Piper/Leo Phoebe/Canon Pairings

 **A/U:** Set after the end of the the first story

 **Disclaimer:** I will say this only once as I don't want to repeat myself every time I post a chapter. I do not own either Charmed or Buffy. Joss Whedon owns Buffy. Charmed owned by Constance M. Burge, Paramount/Viacom and AOL Time Warner.

 **Author's Note:** I had a person review in the first story and complain that Gypsies are not magic users. If you are a fan of Charmed and/or BTVS you will know that is not true. On both shows Gypsies are indeed magic users. In BTVS Gypsies cursed Angel with his soul. That is a work of powerful magic. In Charmed it is stated that gypsies and witches are sister traditions and it is even shown that Gypsies are indeed magic users when one uses a power and another casts spells.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Charmed Again**

Over the three years since the destruction of the town of Sunnydale and the closure of the Sunnydale Hellmouth. Paige, Buffy and Dawn had gone and helped Giles setup the new Watcher's Council in England. They then returned to the U.S. not only to finish their college degrees but so Paige could find her birth family, which led them to settling down in San Francisco. While Paige loved her sisters and her mother. She had always wondered where her magic had come from and if her birth family had been magical also.

When Paige, Buffy and Dawn graduated college they got degrees in fields that complimented them. Paige got a degree in Social Work and got a job at South Bay Social Services. Buffy got a degree in Law Enforcement and had been hired by the San Francisco police department and partnered with Darryl Morris. Dawn had gotten a degree in journalism and got a job at the Bay Mirror as a crime reporter, while she still continued to take classes for her true passion Languages and Mythology. She had felt that working for a newspaper would help her, like Buffy, to detect demonic threats before they got out of hand.

Xander, Faith, and Willow came back with Paige, Buffy and Dawn. Even though Xander had almost married Anya, he had never stopped loving Paige. While he had yet to propose to her, they both knew they weren't ready to get married yet either. So instead they just lived together in an apartment down the hall from Buffy, Willow and Dawn. Since he lost his eye he had been trying to start his own construction business since most employers in the construction industry wouldn't hire him.

During the final year in Sunnydale Willow and Dawn had gotten close as Dawn helped Willow with the grief of losing Tara. And when they had went to England the two of them had gotten married in one of the only countries at the time that allowed same sex marriages. Then after their return Willow had finished her computer science degree and had been hired by a huge firm in San Francisco. And Faith, she did what she had always done best, slay vampires and love the love of her life.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

At South Bay Social Services; Paige was seated at her desk going over information on her computer screen.

"Social services," the receptionist said several feet away. "May I help you?"

"Printing!" Paige called out as she noticed a mysterious wind blew out a lit candle on her desk. She looked at the candle and frowned. There was no wind in here. She was far enough from the front door that no draft would have caught the candle. She was about to get up when a newspaper mysteriously appeared and landed in her lap.

Paige frowned; there was no one near her, which meant that newspaper had appeared magically. She made sure no one had noticed and then she glanced down at the paper, noticing the obituary section, informing about someone named Prue Halliwell's death and where and when the funeral would be held.

In the time Paige, Dawn, Buffy, Faith, Willow and Xander had been in San Francisco; Paige had traced down several possibilities on her birth family, including the Halliwells. Her first step in the search for her birth family had been to go to the church where she had been left. The nun had told her about her birth parents and had made it sound as if she had come from angels instead of humans. She had received a couple of tidbits from the nun though. The first was that her birth parents had one request that her name start with P. The second had been a baby blanket with the letter P on it. The third had been the confirmation that her birth parents had loved her, for they had told the nun they had given her up to protect her. From what the nun hadn't known.

"Paige, you find that study yet?" Paige's boss, Mr. Cowan, said as he emerged from his office and saw her reading the article. "Paige, did you hear me?"

Paige continued to keep her eye on Prue's obituary as she grabbed her jacket. "Yeah. It's in the printer. I need to go. My sister, Buffy, just called. There's been an accident."

"Of course," Mr. Cowan said. "I hope she's alright."

Paige nodded and hurried out of the building as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

"Bay Mirror. How may I direct your call?"

"Dawn Summers, please," Paige said as she got into her car. "Tell her it's her sister, Paige, calling."

"One moment, please."

Paige sat in her car and waited for what seemed like minutes but was in reality only seconds.

"Paige?"

"Dawn, did you, Buffy or Willow cast a spell today?" Paige asked.

Buffy and Dawn were both descended from gypsies and they and Willow could cast gypsy magic even though Dawn had always favored her wand. And Buffy seldom messed with gypsy magic ever since what had happened to Willow.

"No, why?"

"An obit mysteriously appeared in my lap, for Prue Halliwell," Paige said.

"Halliwell … Wasn't that one of the likely families in your research for your birth family?"

"Yeah," Paige said. "Which was why I thought maybe one of you cast something. I'm going to go to the funeral."

"I'll call Buffy and we'll meet you there. Where is it?"

Thirty minutes later Paige, Buffy and Dawn walked into the mausoleum and sat toward the back. Before them sat a beautiful ivory-colored coffin sits on a pedestal amongst the flowers and a blue silk covered table, upon which sat a ceremonial chalice and three lit candles. Behind the table they spotted a woman.

"Must be the minister," Dawn whispered as her sisters nodded in agreement.

Beside them walk in two women and four men. One of which spotted Buffy and stopped, moving beside her.

"Buffy," Darryl Morris said. "I didn't know you knew the Halliwells."

Buffy smiled. "Hey, Darryl. Actually Dawn and I are here for Paige. I think I told you that Paige was looking for her birth family, right?"

Darryl nodded.

"The Halliwells," Paige said. "Were one of the likely candidates."

"Ah," Darryl said. "So you thought about paying your respects to the potential family?"

"That's right," Paige said.

"My condolences then," Darryl said. "I will see you tomorrow, Buffy."

"Tomorrow," Buffy said as Darryl went up to the front to join the others he had been with.

They sat there as the woman began the ceremony. "That which belongs to fellowship and love. That which belongs to the circle, remains with us. The wheel turns. As life is a day, so our sister has passed into night. Nothing is final, and we who remain behind know that one day, we will once again share the bread and wine with our sister. O' blessed spirit, we bid you farewell, for you await a new destiny."

The woman untied a silver cord and gently laid it into the chalice. She then blew out the candles. Around Buffy, Dawn and Paige the mourners stood and made their way past the bereaved to pay their respects. Slowly the sisters made their way up to the front as they too paid their respects. Finally it was Paige's turn as she stepped up in front of one of the women.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," Paige said.

"Thank you," The woman said as Paige started to follow Buffy and Dawn. "How did you know Prue? From work?"

Paige glanced at Buffy and Dawn who were talking to Darryl. She then looked back at the woman. "No. Just from around, you know."

"Have we met before?" the woman asked as she gave Paige a once-over as if she recognized Paige.

Paige shook her head. "No. I don't think so. Anyway, my condolences."

"Thank you," the woman said as she shook Paige's hand and suddenly let out a gasp.

"Phoebe," the other woman said as Paige rejoined her sisters and left.

"What happened?" Dawn asked once they were at their cars.

"I'm not sure," Paige said. "She shook my hand and then suddenly gasped out as if Buffy had been the one shaking her hand."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

That evening at a club called P3, Paige and Xander were dancing as a song ended. The drifted over to their table and sat down.

"You alright?" Xander asked.

"Me?" Paige said as she looked at Xander. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, you seem kinda of quiet," Xander said. "That's all. Is it the funeral?"

Paige nodded. "That and the mysterious obit. Something is just weird about the whole situation. Buffy and Dawn didn't cast a spell. And there was no one near my desk at work to even drop it in my lap. That means someone had to have cast a spell. Was the obit meant for me or did that person's spell go awry? If it was meant for me then who cast it and why?"

"Would you like to go someplace quiet where you can think things through?" Xander asked.

"Sure that might be a good idea," Paige said. "Someplace quiet I can try and cast a tracking spell, maybe."

Twenty minutes later Paige and Xander were on the rooftop of their apartment building. Paige had just started casting her tracking spell when a tornado materialized out of thin air and raced toward her as a demon appeared and fired a concussive blast at Xander.

"Xander!" Paige yelled as she waved her hand. "Home!"

Xander orbed out as Paige turned toward the demon.

Just then Phoebe and one of the men from the funeral shimmered in front of Paige.

"Get outta here! Hurry! Go! Go!" Phoebe said as the man fired an energy ball at the demon, but it barely fazed him as Paige orbed out.

Paige orbed into Faith, Buffy, Willow and Dawn's apartment. "Buffy! Willow! Dawn! Faith!"

Faith, Willow, Buffy and Dawn ran into the living room. "What?" Buffy asked.

"Demon, on the roof," Paige said as she grabbed her sisters hands and orbed them, Faith and Willow up to the rooftop to find not only the demon gone but Phoebe and the man as well.

"Where's the demon?" asked Willow.

"It was here, Will. I swear. Along with one of the women, the one named Phoebe, and one of the men from the funeral," Paige said.

"Then maybe we should think about seeing them tomorrow?" Dawn suggested. "Find out what is going on, here."

"I'm in agreement with Dawn," Faith added.

"Okay," Paige said.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The next day Buffy, Dawn and Paige arrived at the Halliwell's house. Buffy had called Darryl and told him she was going to be late for family reasons. He understood. The front door was standing wide open when they approached it. Buffy, Dawn and Paige frowned as they looked at each other. This was not good.

"Hello?" Buffy called out. When no one answered they made their way inside the house looking for signs of possible demonic activity based on what Paige had seen the night before.

Just then Phoebe, one of the men and the other woman came down the stairs.

"Okay, let's get one thing straight. I am only doing this to save her. I'm not remotely interested in reconstituting ... The Charmed Ones," the woman said. She then spotted Buffy, Dawn and Paige.

"The door was open," Paige said. "We're sorry. My sisters and I will go."

"No, no, no. No, no," Phoebe said. "We were just coming to look for you."

"You were?" Dawn asked.

Phoebe nodded. "Yep. Come on in. Welcome. I'm Phoebe. And this is ..." she said as she hooked her arm into Paige's and walked her over to the other woman and the man. "Piper."

"It's nice to meet you," Paige said.

"Thank you," Piper said. "And you are?"

"Paige," Paige said. "And these are my sisters Buffy and …"

"Hmm. Another P. Imagine that," Phoebe interrupted.

"It's nice to meet you," Piper said as she shook Paige's hand and a bright blue light shone down on Paige, Piper and Phoebe.

"Okay," Buffy said. "What was that?"

"I think that means Paige is supposed to be here," the man said as a strong wind knocked Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Dawn and Buffy backwards. He too was knocked down on the stairs as the demon from the night before materialized and walked towards them.

"Buffy," Paige shouted, "Dawn, that's the demon from last night."

Buffy was up in a heartbeat and ran full tilt at the demon.

"Run!" the man shouted as he shoved Dawn at Piper, Phoebe and Paige. "Get upstairs! "

Piper, Phoebe, Dawn and Paige ran upstairs as the man ran over to the demon and proceeded to help Buffy. They were both thrown backwards and the man was knocked out. Before Buffy could proceed with her attack the demon had turned into wind and proceeded up the stairs. Buffy turned and gave chase.

Up in the attic Dawn, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige gathered around a Book.

"Do you guys know what that demon was?" Paige asked.

Phoebe and Piper looked at each other as they realized Paige knew about demons.

"It's Shax the Source's bounty hunter," Phoebe said.

"The Source?" Dawn asked. "Is that related somehow to the First Evil?"

Phoebe and Piper looked at Dawn and shrugged, they didn't know anything about the First Evil.

Piper began flipping through the pages of the Book. "Okay, just say this spell out loud with us, okay!" she said just as a strong wind broke through the attic door and the demon materialized.

Dawn pulled out her wand. "Hurry," she shouted as she pointed the wand at the demon. "Stupefy!"

The demon shrugged off the wand spell as if it were nothing.

"Evil wind that blows, that which forms below. No longer may you dwell. Death takes you with this spell," Piper, Phoebe and Paige chanted as the demon moaned in pain and exploded.

Phoebe sighed. "It's not enough. Shax was just the messenger. We gotta get the Source."

"The Source of what?" Dawn asked.

"Of all evil," Piper said as Buffy walked into the attic.

"You're kidding right?" Buffy asked. "We kicked the First Evil's ass already."

"I think we have our demons mixed up," Phoebe said. "We've never heard of this First Evil."

"And we've never heard of this Source of All Evil," Dawn said as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

"Who's she calling?" Piper asked.

"Giles," Buffy said, "my watcher, more than likely.

"Giles," Dawn said confirming Buffy's conclusion as she spoke into her phone. "It's Dawn. What do you know of the Source of all Evil? Is it related in some way to the First Evil?"

"Not in the way you might be thinking, no," Giles said as Dawn held out her phone so Buffy, Paige, Piper and Phoebe could listen in. "The Source is an Old One. One of the last of them to be precise. The last I heard of the Source was that he had taken human form and that is why most demons that walk the earth have a human form as well or at least walk on two legs."

Once Giles was done they all sat down in the living room and explained who they were.

Paige found out that Piper and Phoebe were indeed her biological sisters. And then Paige introduced Buffy and Dawn. They all related their lives fighting the forces of darkness. It had come to a shock to Phoebe and Piper to find out that that their baby sister had been fighting demons longer than they themselves had.

"Can I ask you three a question?" Phoebe asked.

"Sure," said Buffy.

"Why did you three come to Prue's funeral?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, none of you ever even met her, right?"

"No. We never did," Paige said. "The thing is I had been doing research on my birth family, you guys were one of several likely possibilities. Then Prue's obit mysteriously appeared in my lap. I then proceeded to call Dawn and find out if she, Buffy or Willow had cast any spells. Dawn said no. I'm not one hundred percent sure why I told Dawn I was going. I guess it was just a part of me trying to find out who my birth family were. "

Piper and Phoebe look at each other.

"Come on," Piper said. "There's something we need to show you. Or all of you if you want."

"Show us what?" Paige asked.

Phoebe smiled. "What good magic can do."

They made their way back upstairs into the attic where Paige, Buffy and Dawn watched as Phoebe placed and lit candles in a circle and then moved to join Piper by the Book of Shadows.

"Here these words. Hear my cry spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the Great Divide." Piper and Phoebe chanted as a woman appeared in a bright light.

"There's someone here we thought you should meet," Phoebe said.

The woman, Patty Halliwell, in the circle of candles turned and looked at Buffy, Paige and Dawn. Or more in particular, Paige. "Paige."

"Mom?" Paige asked.

Patty stepped out of the circle of candles and became corporeal as she hugged Paige. "Welcome home." She then turned and hugged Buffy and Dawn. "Thank you. Thank you for taking good care of your sister."

Buffy and Dawn smiled. "You're welcome," they said.

Dawn walked over to Piper and Phoebe and whispered in their ears as they nodded. She then turned toward the Book of Shadows as she read from it. "Here these words. Hear my cry spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee. Cross now the Great Divide." She chanted as Joyce appeared in the circle.

"Mom!" Buffy and Paige shouted as Joyce stepped out of the circle and became corporeal.

Joyce smiled as she hugged each of her daughters in turn and then she faced Patty.

"Thank you," Patty said. "For taking care of _our_ daughter."

"You're welcome," Joyce said. "Now I think you all might like to hear some embarrassing stories about Paige."

"Mom!" Paige said as everyone laughed.

Then then turned and headed down the stairs as Joyce began telling them all kinds of stories about Paige.


	2. Chapter 2: Hell Hath no Fury

**Chapter 2: Hell Hath no Fury**

"Paige," Mr. Cowan called out.

"Yeah?" Paige asked as she looked up at Mr. Cowan.

"What's the hold up on the O'Brien application?" Mr. Cowan asked.

Paige smiled. "Well, at the moment, the only hold up is my boss, who's standing over me distracting me from my work."

Mr. Cowan nodded. "Nice teeth. Have it on my desk by noon," he said as he turned and walked away.

Paige lowered her voice to a whisper as she looked over at Lila. "Lila! What's the O'Brien application?"

"Adam O'Brien, the foster kid we're trying to get into the boarding school," Lila said.

"Oh my goddess," Paige said. "I forgot."

Lila nodded. "The scholarship application is due, like, today."

"I am so lame," Paige said as Billy pushed the mail cart in front of her desk. He put her mail on her desk. "Aw, Billy, I thought I told you to throw anything from creditors in the trash." He smiled as another co-worker, Donnie, approached them.

"Hi, Pizza-face. Look, I understand how difficult it is to tear yourself away from the cleavage in this section," Donnie said as he looked at Paige. "But I'm gonna need my mail sometime today. Okay?"

Billy nodded. "No problem."

Donnie smiled. "Go, go."

Billy walked away as Donnie gave Paige a sleazy look and walked across the room.

"Nice rug," Paige said, sarcastically.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Paige knocked on the attic door of the Manor. "Knock knock," she said as she glanced at Phoebe and Piper, who was scrying. "I uh … I'm sorry to just drop by without calling."

Phoebe smiled. "Uh, it's okay. Don't worry about it."

"I need to have a look in the book. Faith …"

"Faith?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh, that's right you haven't met her or Willow," Paige said. "Faith is Buffy's lover. And Willow is Dawn's."

"Ah," Phoebe said. "So, you were saying."

"Faith has been tracking this demon and wanted me to see if there was anything about it in your Book."

Suddenly Piper picked up the map and scrying crystal and headed for the attic door.

"What are you doing?" Phoebe asked as Piper walked past her.

"Um, it's a little chatty up here, so I'm going to go scry for evil in my room," Piper said.

"Scry?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, uh, Phoebe will explain. I'll see you later," Piper said as she walked down the stairs.

"It's kind of like a, um," Phoebe said.

"I know what it is," Paige interrupted. "I mean why is she scrying?"

"She's scrying for evil," Phoebe said. "For the next demon we'll go after. Anyways go ahead, technically the book is yours also. I'll be back in a few minutes; I need to talk to Cole."

"What's the deal with him anyways?" Paige asked.

"What do you mean?" Phoebe asked.

Paige sighed. "That night I saw you and him together he cast some kind of spell or something."

"He's a demon," Phoebe said.

Paige's eyes went wide. "A demon. And you go out with him?"

Phoebe nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Let's just say I know the attraction of the dark side," Paige said.

"You do?" Phoebe asked. "Who did you date?"

"Not me, Buffy," Paige said. "A vampire. And I saw what he …" She noticed Phoebe's questioning gaze when she said 'he'. "Buffy wasn't always gay. Well she's more bisexual actually. Anyways I saw what he did to her. Not physically but emotionally." She let out a sigh and then orbed out. She decided right now was not the time to look through the Book. She could come back later. She needed to clear her head.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Later back at South Bay Social Services Paige was in the copy room, copying some files for Mr. Cowan as Donnie came in and checked out Paige's ass while he fixed his toupee.

"Nothing like a copy room with a view," Donnie said as he poured himself some coffee. Paige straightened up as Billy walked in. "Hey Clearasil, what's popping?" He laughed as he left.

Paige sighed. "Don't worry about him, Billy. He's a jerk to everybody."

Billie nodded. "Yeah, I know. That's why his mail gets lost … frequently."

"I've had about enough of his sexual harassment statements," Paige said. "I think I will go talk to Mr. Cowan."

"Good luck," Billy said.

Paige marched out of the copy room and over to Mr. Cowan's office door and knocked.

"Come in," Mr. Cowan said as Paige opened the door and walked in. "Ah, Paige. Did you get those files copied?"

"Almost," Paige said. "I wanted to talk to you about Donnie. I want to report him for sexual harassment."

"Did he do something?" Mr. Cowan asked suddenly concerned.

"No," Paige said. "Just his comments to me."

"I'll talk to him. You let me know if he does it again," Mr. Cowan said.

Later Paige was on the phone talking to someone about Adam O'Brien's case. "Sir, I am taking full responsibility for being late with the application. I'm simply asking for a deadline extension."

"Well, I can't give you a deadline extension."

"Well I'm asking that you not punish Adam O'Brien who's already had a tough enough life for my mistake." Paige said as she heard the man sigh. "Sir, all I'm saying is that Adam is a hard working kid. Who just needs a break in life. Please."

"How does six o'clock on Friday sound?"

Paige smiled. "Six o'clock Friday is perfect. Thank you so much," she said as she hung up. "Victory!"

Lila looks over at her. "You got the extension?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah."

Just then Donnie came up to her and stood behind her. "My apologies for the comments I made."

"Let me guess, Mr. Cowan told you to apologize or he'd fire you?" Paige asked as Donnie nodded. "Just so you know he told me to let him know if you ever made another comment like those again."

Donnie turned and walked away.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Later Paige returned to Manor check the Book for Faith. As she walked in through the front door she heard Leo and Phoebe talking in the living room.

"Cole hit her with an energy ball," Leo said.

"He hit who with an energy ball?" Paige asked as she entered the living room. Phoebe and Leo looked up at her. "Remembered I need to check the Book for that demon Faith's been tracking."

"Piper is turning into a Fury," Phoebe said and then she looked back at Leo. "Leo, it was a low voltage. Would you prefer he'd let her kill an innocent?"

"I'd prefer that he wouldn't use his demonic powers on my wife," Leo said.

"I would prefer that also," Paige said as Phoebe looked at her. "I'm not going to pretend to like him, Phoebe. He is a demon. And for that I will never ever trust him."

"You can't let your past judge your future," Leo said as he turned to look back at Phoebe. "And I can't believe that you let him go look for her."

"Listen to yourself, Leo. You're trying to defend him to me. But at the same time you don't like what he did to Piper," Paige said. "He's a demon for crying out loud. He should have been vanquished a long time ago. Instead you all are letting him date Phoebe."

Phoebe glared at Paige. "It's not their choice to make, it's mine. He's good, Paige. He's helped save a lot of innocents," she said.

"So was Angel," Paige said as she returned Phoebe's glare. "But he still hurt Buffy in the long run."

Phoebe sighed as she looked at Leo deciding to quit worrying about trying to defend Cole to Paige. "I just hope he finds her fast because if this is anything like the time I turned into a Banshee, she's gonna be hungry for a kill."

"So how are you going to save Piper?" Paige asked.

"Not sure yet," Phoebe said as she set the Book on the coffee table. She got up and walked into the dining room where she had set up a map and a scrying crystal and began scrying. After a few minutes she gave up. "Damn it."

"It's not working because scrying is saying she isn't a witch anymore, right?" Paige asked. "That's the problem with scrying."

"Yeah," Phoebe said as Cole shimmered in, covered in bruises and scratches. "Cole. Thank God." She got up and hugged him as Paige glared at him.

"Don't thank me yet," Cole said.

"You didn't find her?" Paige asked.

Cole shook his head. "I didn't get a chance to look. Every time I used my sensing powers, a bounty hunter sensed me. I fought off three of them," he said as he sat down at the table. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's-it's okay," Phoebe said. "I mean, somehow everything's gonna be okay. I—I don't have even a little idea of how everything's gonna be okay."

"Phoebe ..." Paige said as an idea came to her mind.

"You know why?" Phoebe asked. "Because nothing is okay."

"Phoebe," Paige repeated.

Phoebe sighed. "My sister is a fury, my boyfriend is a demon ... Oh baby, you're bleeding," she said as she knelt down next to Cole.

"Phoebe," Paige said as Phoebe looked at her. "Now I could cast a spell that could locate Piper. But I'm not going to because I have an idea. What I am thinking about is the spell Piper used to find me, the TO Call A Lost Witch."

"But as you yourself said, Piper's not a witch anymore," Phoebe said.

Paige smiled. "Correct, but if we substitute the word 'sister' for 'witch'? Buffy, Dawn and I have done that before in spells we've cast with some success."

"Will that work?" Cole asked.

Phoebe shook her head. "Well, n-no. Not if she's already looking for a kill. The call won't be strong enough. I don't think she'll answer the call."

"Which comes to the next part if Cole is up to it," Paige said.

Phoebe looked at Cole and then back at Paige. "No. No. Uh, no. Are you kidding me? No."

Paige smiled. "I know what you're thinking, Phoebe. Just because I don't trust Cole is not why I am suggesting this. The furies go after evil doers."

Phoebe sighed. "Putting aside your trust issue, Paige. I am not using the love of my life as bait."

Cole looked at Phoebe and smiled. "Oh, yes we are. It's perfect." He stood up and moved beside Paige.

"Cole, you have been a demon for over a century. That is a lot of victims. The pain of their cries alone can kill you," Phoebe said.

Cole nodded. "Yes, but as you said, I'm not the demon that did those things anymore. And if facing my crimes helps save your sister …"

"Cole, I …" Phoebe started.

"Phoebe," Cole said as he sat back down next to Phoebe. "I would do almost anything for you, you know that. But I will not be a coward for you. Please don't ask me to be."

Phoebe reached up and touched Cole's face. "We'll need some of your blood."

Cole nodded. "Right."

"Knife," Paige called out as a knife orbed from the table and into Paige's hand. She held it out in front of Cole.

"So why is it you don't trust me?" Cole asked as he sliced his hand, drawing blood.

"Put it simply Cole," Paige said. "You're a demon. The long part of that story is. My sister, Buffy dated a vampire. He even had a soul."

"Angelus," Cole said as Phoebe looked at him shocked that he knew who Paige was talking about. "I heard about him in the Underworld. He was cursed with his soul around the time I was born."

"Yes, Angel," Paige said as Phoebe took the knife from Cole and held it over a candle. "Even with his soul, he hurt Buffy. Not physically but emotionally. So, you understand why I don't trust you or really like you much. I'm looking out for Phoebe here and my experience shows you will hurt her. Not physically, but emotionally."

Cole nodded in understanding. "All I can say here is, I will never do that. But even I know you won't take my word for it. You will have to see it."

"Paige," Phoebe said. "The spell, please."

Paige nodded as she joined Phoebe. "Power of the sister's rise," they said as they recited the modified spell that Phoebe had quickly wrote up, "course unseen across the skies, come to us who call you near. Come to us and settle here. Blood to blood, I summon thee, blood to blood, return to me."

And then they waited.

"Are you sure about this?" Phoebe asked as she watched her boyfriend pace back and forth several minutes later.

Cole smiled. "I'm good at a lot of things. Waiting is not one of them."

"Okay do we have any idea how to we un-demon Piper when she gets here?" Paige asked.

"I thought about it and we have to close the portal of unexpressed fury," Phoebe said.

"Unexpressed?" Cole asked. "I think she's been raging for days."

Phoebe nodded. "That's 'cause there's something she's not saying."

"Which is?" Paige wondered.

Phoebe sighed. "I don't know, but I think I have an idea," she said as Cole yelled out in pain and dropped to his knees. She knelt beside him. "They're close?"

"I'm sorry," Cole said. "I'm so sorry."

A fury barged in through the front door as Phoebe levitated and kicked her, knocking her down. The fury got back up and attacked Phoebe. Phoebe blocked and kicked her back down a second time just as Piper and the other fury appeared behind Phoebe near Cole and Paige.

"Phoebe!" Paige called out as Phoebe turned around.

"Nice decoy, Piper. Two points," Phoebe said as she levitated and kicked both the fury and Piper down. She looked over at Cole who lay on the floor. "Cole. Come on. Come on." She tried to get him up as the furies surrounded them.

"Lamp!" Paige called out as a lamp orbed out and it flew across the room hitting a fury. The furies turned around to face her. As the furies moved toward her, she dropped into a combat stance. "Just so you two know I've trained alongside the Slayer. "

Cole threw an energy ball at the two furies and vanquished them. Piper pushed Phoebe out of the way and scratched Cole's chest.

"Cole is not your problem, Piper, and you know it," Phoebe said as Piper attacked her. She kicked Piper down as Cole got an energy ball ready. "Cole, don't!" She looked to Piper. "You think I abandoned you. You think it's my fault that Prue died. You blame me. You should just admit it."

Piper sent Phoebe flying straight into a cabinet, smashing it. She then turned and headed for Paige.

"You don't want to kill me, Piper, you barely even know me," Paige said as Cole went over to Phoebe. "It's not about me. It's not about Phoebe, is it? Phoebe's not the sister who abandoned you. It's Prue, isn't it?" Paige said as she grabbed Piper. "Time to go for a ride." And then they orbed out.

"Where'd they go?" Cole asked.

"To what Piper's really angry at," Phoebe said.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

At the mausoleum Paige orbed in with Piper who backed away when she saw Prue's plaque.

"Tell her, Piper," Paige said as Piper tried to get out the locked doors. "It's alright to hate her. You should hate her. When Buffy died, I hated her for it. It was just me and Dawn. I hated Buffy because she left me and Dawn alone. It is okay to hate Prue."

Piper looked at Paige. "How dare you!" she yelled as she ran over to Prue's plaque and banged on it. "How dare you leave me? How could you go and die and leave me here all alone? Please come back. I need you. Please come back." She screamed and sank down on the ground, crying as she changed back to normal.

"It's okay," Paige said as she knelt down next to her sister. "It's okay."

Piper shook her head as she looked at Paige. "It's not okay. She risked her life every day and she never thought about what would happen to me and Phoebe if she was gone."

"I felt the same way when Buffy died," Paige said. "I was the eldest sister. But Buffy was the strongest. We had just lost mom to an aneurysm and then Buffy went and sacrificed herself so Dawn wouldn't have to. She was gone for a few months. And I felt lost." She pulled Piper into an embrace and hugged her tightly.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The next day at South Bay Social Services Piper walked in and over to Paige holding a basket of muffins. She set the basket on her desk as Paige looked up at her, surprised to see her standing there. Then she glanced into the basket and smiled as she saw the muffins. She was sure Piper was feeling a little better today than she had yesterday. "Muffins. Thanks," she said.

"Busy work," Piper explained. "I'm best in the kitchen. Prue was the one that liked to, uh, chase demons."

"I know what you mean," Paige said. "Well not entirely. None of us really liked to chase demons. But it was Buffy's job, we just helped her out. So, how are you?"

Piper sighed. "I've had, uh … bad hours," she said as she sat down. "And hours that aren't quite so bad. I guess you know how it is."

Paige nodded. "Yeah. When Buffy died, there were some days I didn't think I'd survive the sadness. It'll never be okay that she's gone, Piper. But I promise, it will get better."

"Can I ask you," Piper said. "You keep saying Buffy died, but…"

"There is a gypsy spell," Paige said. "Someone who died of mystical means can be brought back. Before you ask it won't work for Prue. It needed the Urn of Osiris and the last known one was destroyed during Buffy's resurrection. Besides I wouldn't do that, even if I wanted too. When Buffy came back she was a mess. See she had been ripped out of heaven. She remembered being in Heaven, the happy feelings it generated. She was mess after her resurrection."

"Oh god," Piper said as her hand went to her mouth.

"Exactly," Paige said as she saw the realization in Piper's eyes. "It was months before she finally was able to put it behind her."

Piper nodded. Even if they could find this Urn of Osiris and could get the spell from Paige, she would not cast it because she would not want to traumatize Prue like that.

Just then Mr. Cowan came up to them. "My, my, my. That pile looks about the same size as it did about an hour ago."

"Oh, that was my fault," Piper said as she stood up. "I distracted her with muffins."

"And you are?" Mr. Cowan asked.

Piper looked at Paige then back at Mr. Cowan. "I'm her sister."

"Sister?" Mr. Cowan asked as he looked at Paige confused.

"Biological," Paige said. "Buffy and Dawn are my sister's by my adoption. Piper here is my sister by birth. We were just reunited. And before you ask Mr. Cowan. No I didn't use the resources here to track Piper down. I've been looking for my birth family for a long time. Longer than I've been working here, since I was about twelve."

Mr. Cowan nodded and he turned and headed for his office.

"You've been looking for us that long?" Piper asked.

"Yeah," Paige said. "When I started coming into my powers I just wondered where I came from. Or more precisely where my powers came from. Then when Buffy and I turned sixteen and Dawn was fourteen, I stopped looking. Something else took up my time for a while then."

"When Buffy was called as a Slayer," Piper said as Paige nodded.

"Then when mom, followed by Buffy, died, I started looking again. I think I wanted to get back what I had just lost and I knew if I could find our mom and you guys then it would somehow make up for mom and Buffy dying. But it didn't last …"

"The grief," Piper said in understanding. "It was hard for you, losing both your mom and then your sister in the space of a couple months."

"It was," Paige said. "Even though it was a personal gain spell, I was blessed the day that Willow cast her spell. It gave me back my family. And then in time to find you. If Buffy hadn't come back I'm pretty sure I would never have started looking again. When I started after Buffy died I was alright, but as time went by I got more and more depressed, and more and more angry. If it hadn't been for Dawn keeping me grounded I don't know what would have happened."

"I know the feeling," Piper said. "Prue to me is like Buffy to you. And you saw what happened to me. If it hadn't been for you actually, I might not be sitting here now. I would have completed the transformation to becoming a Fury."

"Well tell you what," Paige said. "We'll keep each other grounded."

"Alright," Piper said. "I better let you get back to work."

"Yeah," Paige said. "Don't need my boss complaining that I'm not doing my job. Tell Phoebe I said hi."

"I will," Piper said as she smiled at Paige and then turned and left.

Paige smiled a little to herself. _'Sisters,_ ' she thought. _'I have two sets of sisters. Two sets of the Power of Three.'_


End file.
